$3,000 in Back Pay for Pittsburgh Macy’s Workers (8/11/09)

In early 2009, Macy’s department store in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, changed its return policy to lengthen the amount of time customers had to return goods. This proved detrimental to RWDSU Local 101 members who are paid on a commission basis.

Under the old policy workers’ commissions were safe after 90 days. Under the new policy, if a customer returned an item within 180 days of purchasing it, workers lost their commission for the original sale.

The union filed a grievance and agreed on a settlement with the company which paid out a total of almost $3,000. Each of the 20 members affected got paid based on their sales history and return ratio.